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SDCC IDW Zombs!
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INTRO
This year’s SDCC was my first. In previous years, I’d find myself staring and drooling at all the cool exclusives offered at the con. This year I’d actually have a shot at scoring them first hand. The slightly annoying bit is that unlike the past few years, my “want” list was pretty light. A couple prints and two or three toys were all I was after. At the tippy top of that tiny list was publisher IDW’s Zomb from their Ashley Wood created series, Zombies vs Robots.
IDW had a presale a few weeks prior to the con. I was dead asleep when it went live, but through some randomness of chance I woke up in the middle of the night, glanced at my phone and saw the words “SDCC Zombs up for sale!” on my twitter feed. In a half-asleep blur I worked my way through their site and secured my two.
Though blind boxed, the zombs were available in two skin colors with two different colors shirts for a total of 4 different combinations. The boxes themselves were supposed to have a color coded dot on them, but the stickers rubbed off several of the boxes in transit.
The color codes are as follows:
Blue = red shirt, grey skin
Green = white shirt, grey skin
Orange = red shirt, orange skin
White = white shirt, orange skin
(thanks for laying it out dtrain!)
For this review, you might notice my zombs have marker doodles all over their shirts. That’s because I asked Ashley Wood to sketch on them. Rufus Dayglow was standing next to him when he started and used him as a bit of inspiration. Thus the birth of “Rufus Zomb”. On my red shirt zomb he sketched a simple, smiling girl and the words “Fun Girl” underneath.
Like most sketches you’d get from Ash, they’re pretty quick renders and a little on the sloppy side. But I love ’em. Rufus Zomb is da coolest!
PACKAGING
Sweet. That’s what I said when I saw the box art for the first time. ZvR played a huge part in getting me into Ashley Wood’s art (that and his stint on Metal Gear Solid) and the box is smothered with illustrations that call back to that fun comic series.
WHAT’S INCLUDED
3A is apparently making a play to help save the planet by doing away with the toxic plastic bubble shell. Either that or it’s a lot cheaper to wrap toys in torn up bits of cardboard. The Zombs are basically free floating amongst the strips, but the padding works well to keep them safe and snug. The Zombs come accessory/poster/extras free. Just them, you and the room.
THE BREAKDOWN
These are the first Zombs out of 3A (cough, IDW) that actually looks scary. With their pitch black eyes and craggy maw, these are some sinister creatures.
They still have similar stylized hair and the big ears that their Adventure Kartel brothers do, but they feel very different. Far more ferocious. These are the runner Zombs of your horde. Unlike the boiler Zombs who slowly lurk around the shadows, the ZvR Zombs run screaming at you from the alleyway, teeth bared for flesh. The paint app on his head and body are really nice. While the grey skinned Zomb appears grey overall, his skin is mottled with specs of blue, brown and black. In fact, it looks like blue is the base color and the main grey fleshy skin tone is painted over it. Once again, there’s no blood to speak of but the paint is broken up in such a way that it gives off a nice decaying flesh look.
Other than the new head sculpt, most of ZvR Zomb’s getup it borrowed from elsewhere. The slim body is used for the first time on a Zomb which adds to their overall agile appearance. But as expected, it’s the same one we’ve seen on Rothchild and the RVHK TKs. The red chucks (which I really dig) are Tommy Red’s, the cargo’s probably from one TK or another. The hands are actually interesting because they are technically a new sculpt, but we saw them first on Rehel. Thing is, as of this writing, Rehel hasn’t shipped yet. So in some ways, the hands are unique to the zombs and it’s Rehel who’s reusing them.
Whichever came first, the Rehel or the Zomb doesn’t really matter I suppose. The hands sculpts are cool and I doubt these guys, or Rehel will be the last we see of them. The tattered and torn tee-shirts lack the usual front “3A” logo or Ash image. Instead we get a blank front and a brain graphic that reads “brain pie orgy” on the back. That worked out fine for me since I was able to get Ash to doodle in the available space, but I thought it looked a little unfinished before.
I didn’t realize this until posting, but apparently I didn’t get a good shot of the back of his shirt. At this point, I’m too lazy to drag my camera out, pose, light and reshoot him. Thus, I hope you can piece together the general idea between these two images.
I don’t really consider different color shirts much of a variant so I sort of wish I’d gotten on grey skin and one orange skin, just to have one of each. I say that now, but when I was looking at them at SDCC, the orange skinned Zomb was very orange. The orange read more like a “special” colorway like Shadow, Inky or Blanc than something that can naturally stand with the rest of your regular collection.
One big difference between my zombs and any other figure in my collection is the way their joints work… or should I say, sound? Even though I have Rothchild and a RVHK TK who both share the same slim body as these Zombs do, neither of them feel/sound the same.
My Zomb’s joints pop. As if I’m moving tiny gears, there’s incremental clicks at every major joint point. My buddy Scott was the first to notice this. We never got around to opening his to see if they shared the same “feature”, but I’d assume since it applies to both my Zombs that it’s not a unique trait.
I’ve yet to notice any hinderance caused by this, but it’s a little off putting, especially the first time it happened. Popping, creaking or cracking toy joints do not usually mean things are going as you planned.
Popping joints aside, I’ve had a ton of fun with these two in the short time I’ve had them. They pose and balance very well, they look super cool and there’s just enough new on them to make them feel original.
Going over these guy with a fine tooth comb I did notice one thing that seems to more or less underline the kit-bashy ness of these guys. Taking the new Rehel hand’s and stuffing onto the slim body may have seemed like an easy no fuss idea. The problem is that Rehel’s wrists are a good deal larger than those on the slim body. At some angles, it looks like our boy is wearing flesh colored gloves or zombie Hulk hands.
Without the long boiler suit or tracky jacket to cover it up, I more than once stopped to look it over. I still can’t decide if it actually bothers me or if it’s simply something I noticed looks slightly out of whack. It’s not a deal breaker by any means. A fun toy is fun toy.
FINAL WORD
Zombs are fun. I didn’t “get” the Aventure Kartel line of 3A toys until I got my first Zomb. The classic 3A boiler is among my favorite figure in my collection. The head sculpt on him is probably the best we can expect to see from 3A. The other iterations of the Zomb head designs have been good, but they haven’t been able to hold a candle to boiler’s.
This is the first time a Zomb has come out that I haven’t felt compelled to compare him to the previous Zombs. There’s no need to see how he stacks because he feels so different than the others. While they’re still laced with some 3A charm and maybe the slightest tinge of classic zomb goofiness, the large majority of what you get with a ZvR Zomb is far more scarier and evil looking than what we’ve seen before.
The ZvR are some of the more versatile 3A (cough, IDW) figures yet. They can mesh with just about anyones collection. They can sit with your AK Zomb horde and represent the faster/vicious/runner Zombs that Tommy and his crew fear running in to. You could throw them up on your Popbot shelf and give your TKs something to chop at. They also work well with the bots in your WWR collection. It can’t really be Zombies vs Robots without robots, right?
I really love the ZvR Zombs. They look great, they’re fun to play with and my pair happen to be doodled on by Ash himself. Admittedly, that may have caused some bias.
A part of me enjoys the exclusive/limited drops, particularly when I score. I’ve been on both sides of the boot so I know how it feels to miss out. I feel super fortunate that I happen to wake up in the middle of the night and lock down my preorders. So many did not and missed completely. As much as I love exclusive toys and “winning” cool limited things, I do hope we see another version of this guy down the road for general release. It’d be a shame to relegate his coolness to the paltry few who via happenstance, got lucky.
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Cons:
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Today’s image comes in part from 1\6 baseball bat and skateboard craftsman, Simon. AKA, Goatbot, Goatballs and/or Goaty. He’s contributed before with his fantastic DIY skateboard tutorial as well as his infamous DIY bat tutorial.
This image was lightly altered from his original in order to make it fit a little better on a desktop. It’s a fantastic shot that at both times shows that F-Legion can hand out some punishment as well as giving us an idea of how many toys are in Simon’s collection.
Thanks for the image Goat!
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Let us know how we’re doing! Follow us on Facebook and Twitter and stay updated!
If you’d like to contribute to Wednesday’s Wallpaper of the Week and have your name go down in history, drop us a line at radtoyreview@gmail.com with your idea and/or image sample.
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This review was suppose to go up right before Comic Con. Unfortunately I ran into a few snags when attempting to use my iPad to post it on the way to San Diego. Apologies!
– Knives
INTRO
Fact: 3A’s release of the WWR Caesars was one of the/my most anticipated toy releases of the year. I wasted no time grabbing an EMGY when he dropped on Bambaland. I’d would have liked to snagged another color-way as well but what my parents told me when I was a child unfortunately still holds true. “Money does not grow on trees.”
Fact: A few months later, I purchased the awesome looking 003 which came as part of the Father and Son two pack. I was stoked.
Fact: I received my Father and Son two pack in the mail and was absolutely over the moon with excitement to get home and open up the massive box. I smiled at the thought of basking in what was sure to be some bright red form of toy geek nirvana.
Fact: Watching the clock at work because you can’t wait for 5pm to roll around only makes time move slower. Avoid clocks when anxious.
Fact: I finally opened the two pack and was incredibly underwhelmed, let down and saddened when I did. (review here) Good feeling gone. Hope for mankind lost.
Fact: I put off opening my EMGY for over 3 days as the weight of disappointment that close together would surely cause me to burn my collection and by proxy, my house, to the ground.
Fact: The wife would not be pleased by this. I advise to avoid fire under distress.
Fact: I finally opened my EMGY Caesar.
Fact: I smiled.. more than once.
Fact: I’m writing this review at 7:00am in the morning at the top quarter portion of a six hour flight, in a crowded cabin and next to a screaming baby.
PACKAGING
A color coded slip cover is the first thing you’ll see when opening up your Caesar. For EMGY, you get some stark yellow design elements and a dash of logos to balance things out.
Slips are nice, but a little boring. Underneath it, we get to the good stuff. A printed image of a super cool Ashley Wood painting. The painting itself features the dome topped Gravedigger. It’d been cool if Ash did a unique piece for each color-way, but being as there were close to 50 different ones (ed note: exaggeration) I can’t fault them for simplifying it.
WHAT’S INCLUDED
Obviously, you get a giant yellow (EMGY) bot, along with his huge rifle, side arm and knife. You also get a little catalog of the ghosts of 3A past, aka toys you can’t get anymore less you brave the treacherous after market sea. You also get a pretty awesome WWR comic as part of the deal.
The comic is pretty short, and save for a few select panels and some really nice paintings on the last few pages.. it’s relatively light on exciting content. But it tells a little WWR story which has an actual beginning, middle and end (take that Popbot!). WWR is something many like myself have been asking for more of since Ashley put out the World War Robot collection several years back, and just like so much of what the man does, the result has me clamoring for more.
THE BREAKDOWN
This is a first for Rad Toy Review. I’m basically reviewing the same exact toy as I did a few weeks back with the 003 from the Father and Son two pack. There are some immediate, obvious contrasts of course, one is red, the other yellow, but at their core, they’re the same thing.
So what’s a fellah to do? How do I write a new perspective to something I JUST wrote? Well, as it happens, the clothes do indeed make the man. On some accounts, the machine.
Emgy might as well be an entirely all new toy as the differences between the two, if only aesthetic, feel truly immense.
Let’s being shall we? I went with the EMGY color-way not out of any particular love for yellow, but because I’m fortunate to have both an EMGY Grunt and EMGY Dropcloth. The three should look smashing together on display. (hint: they do)
The WWR Caesars are all part of 3A’s LUX line. This is intended to mean that, for a price, we get a higher quality, more refined and all around better collectible. My vocal reaction to the claim upon first unleashing 003 to the world was this giant, disappointed “meh”. EMGY on the other hand, holy crab cakes! Look at this sexy beast!
3A did some really good things with the paint job on this big fellah. The layers of weathering we’ve come to expect from them is all here with streaks and smears, sponged dirt and splatters. Take a closer look and you’ll see some of the stuff that calls back to the 3A of yesteryear.
We have silver metal popping out from underneath his yellow coat, edges worn by harsh conditions and the elements. There’s small flecks of red here and there, subtly offsetting the dominate dirty yellow. I haven’t seen toy “metal” look this metal in a long, long time! Say what you will about the design, Caesar is painted up very,very nice.
Big guns. That’s been sort of a theme of late with the big bots I’ve reviewed. Zaku had an absolutely massive beast of a gun and while not quite as huge, Caesar’s isn’t too shabby either. EMGY C is one of the select Caesars to get the newly designed smart rifle. Other’s came packed with the same rifle that previously came with WWR Armstrong’s.
How well designed this new smart rifle is, like so much else in life, is completely objective and probably up to your personal tastes. I think it’s pretty great. It’s heavy, hard edges and bulky barrel look tough. The removable clip, scope and color coordinated bits add some interest. It’s an all new look for WWR and projects as though it’d pack a heavy punch. Something which seems well suited for a Caesar.
Standard issue with all stripes of Caesar is their harmonic knife and trusty side arm. I loved on the knife a bit in my 003 review and I stand by said loving here. The knife is a sick piece of kit. Of course EMGY’s has yellow accents to ensure no one picks it up by mistake and runs off with it.
The side arm looks great as well. Color coordinated and with a trigger guard that actually fits Big C’s fingers. Something that shouldn’t even be review worthy, but as 3A can be pretty dyslexic about whether or not the weapons they give their characters actually fit or not, it seems worth mentioning. It also helps when posing him Solid Snake style with blade and pistol at the ready.
Shields. The EGMY crew has an abundance of them and they are in many ways, synonymous with the color-way. While all the Caesars sport a shoulder shield of some kind, I thought it was fitting they gave EMGY two.
This is where I must address what is basically my only real complaint about Caesar.. EMGY Caesar that is. The weight of the shields on his arms are too much for the balljoints at his shoulders. This could be an isolated thing and I just lucked out with one of whom’s BOTH arms flop around needlessly at his sides. I say that, because I don’t recall having the issue with 003. Maybe he warped some in the heat during shipment or maybe he slipped past 3A’s QC. Whatever the case may be, it sucks to get a new toy and immediately have an issue on your hands. I’ll say this here, 3A’s Customer Service is some of the best out there. They’ve helped me out countless times in the past with all sorts of little issues ranging from scuffed paint to broken weapons. Even replaced things I broke myself! But to fix this, I’d have to ship Big C back to them. That’s not cheap nor is it something I want to deal with.
Instead, I went for a bottle of super glue and slowly built up a fine layer around the joint until I got it tight enough to hold the poses I needed him to.
Speaking of pose. You can get quite a bit out of the big guy. He’s the most articulated bot out right now from 3A. His size does inhibit how spryly you’ll be able to move him around, but with some patience and little work you can squeeze a ton out of him.
The skirt draped around EMGY will be familiar to anyone who’s owned a dropcloth. All the pros and cons of the waist high moo moo are included as well. The biggest negative being the bags, sheath and holster are all held on by little cloth tabs tucked into it’s waist band. More likely than not, the second you take your Caesar out of his package a few of them will already be untucked and the bags will be hanging loosely. I miss the good ol’ days when bags had loops on the back and a belt strung through them to keep them solidly in place.
I’ve been dealing with this small annoyance since day one of collecting 3A. I’ve learned to accept it, but it still irks me the slightest bit. A little tip: If you pull your straps through and get enough slack you can simply tie them together for sound keeping.
FINAL WORD
Night and day. Red and yellow. That’s how different the 003 and EMGY Caesars are. 003 was a mountain of plastic disappointment, looking cheaper than it should have and frankly, dull. My EMGY Caesar however, is the bee’s knees. The killer paint app, the double shields, the tough flat head, the newly designed smart rifle, a harmonic knife and the ample articulation make for a really fun and impressive bot.
I want to pose this guy.. move his arms around into exciting poses with that awesome canon/rifle/broomstick. Get him sneaking up behind a grunt with blade drawn for the kill. Lots of cool, exciting and fun ideas pop up just looking at this guy sitting here.
There in lies the rub. I know I’ll probably never bother.
Once he’s set up on my shelf, he’ll most likely stay exactly however he sits from now until I absolutely HAVE to move him. The fun of grabbing a toy to mess around with during a moment of downtime isn’t really an option. He’s just too big and cumbersome to easily toss around. A crowded shelf of carefully placed toys doesn’t help.
It shouldn’t matter to me. I’m technically a grown up.
EMGY Caesar is awesome. Figures like this are why I collect 3A. Loose shoulder joints aside, I’m completely satisfied with how they produced this guy. I guess what I’m starting to see with my own collection is that I just don’t NEED any more big bots. They become permanent fixtures and eat up a ton of space.
So even though I have this new toy that I want to kiss and hug and call George, it’s probably the last 1/6 scale giant robot that I’ll be adding to my collection.
Of course giant robots are what got me into 3A in the first place.
Giant robots are cool.
Like really, REALLY cool…
Sigh… I have no will power.
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